Charles Gould, an extensive and prosperous agriculturist of Hopkinton, was born March 8, 1823, on the farm where he now resides, son of Captain Moses and Hannah (Currier) Gould. He represents one of the oldest families of this section of the county. His ancestor, Joseph Gould, was one of the original proprietors of Hopkinton, where he bought land while yet a resident of South Hampton, N.H. Joseph died shortly after his purchase; and his widow with her family of five sons, all young men, came here in 1754, each son making a separate settlement. Joseph Gould was born in South Hampton, being either the son or grandson of the emigrant ancestor, Christopher Gould, who came to this country from England, locating Hampton, N.H. The five sons of Joseph were: Moses, Elias, Gideon, John, and Christopher, all of whom served in the Revolutionary War, married, and reared families. Some descendants of each are now living in Merrimack County. Several of these formerly spelled their name Goold. One of them, Nathaniel Goold, who settled in Chicago in 1838, going there on the old steamer “Madison,” was the last surviving charter member of Dearborn Lodge, F. & A. M., at his death.
Moses Gould, the grandfather of Charles, soon after coming here purchased the ancestral homestead at Hopkinton in 1754. His mother made her home with him. In 1760 or thereabout, besides building a substantial house with solid oak timbers which are still in use, forming the frame for the present residence, he cleared the timber from quite a large portion of the land. He died at the age of fifty-four years. His widow, in maidenhood Joanna Davis, who attained the age of eighty-two years, lived with the Shakers at Canterbury from 1818 until 1836. She bore her husband three children, namely: Moses, the father of Charles; Jonathan, who died at the age of twenty-two years; and Enoch, who married Lydia Rowell, and lives with his family in Bradford, N.H. Captain Moses Gould spent his entire life of seventy-five years on the old homestead, carrying on general farming and lumbering. In his younger days he trained in a company of the State militia, serving as Captain for several years. He brought his bride, Hannah Currier, a daughter of Daniel Currier, of Warner, N.H., to the home farm, where she resided until her death at the age of eighty-two years. Here they reared their family of five children, namely: Joanna, who married Ambrose Chase, and died in Hopkinton, aged eighty years; Abigail, who was the wife of Ezra Terrill, of Penacook, and died when sixty years old; Hannah, who died in young womanhood; Martha, who became the wife of Franklin Frost, of Penacook, and died at the age of sixty-five years; and Charles, twin brother of Martha and the subject of this sketch.
Charles Gould received a fair education at the Hopkinton Academy. Afterward for a period of twoscore years he was engaged during the winter seasons as a teacher in the county schools. He was Captain for a time in the Fortieth New Hampshire militia, in which his father had previously been an officer. He has also served many terms as one of the Superintending School Committee. In 1859 he was a member of the Board of Selectmen. For some time he has been Master of the local grange. In the management of his farm he has shown good judgment. Besides making desirable improvements he has added more land to the original hundred acres. In his large dairy he keeps high-grade Guernsey cattle, and has every modern facility for making butter, which he produces at the rate of one hundred pounds per week. This product brings him the average price of thirty cents a pound the year round. At the World’s Fair, held in Chicago in 1893, it received a high award, the merits ranking almost to the maximum on every point counted. He received the World’s Columbian Exposition Medal for his exhibit, standing the highest of any in New Hampshire, and ranking third among the whole number of competing States. He has likewise carried away several first prizes at State fairs. In politics Mr. Gould has been a free silver man for years, and in the last Presidential campaign was an earnest supporter of W. J. Bryan. He is very liberal in his religious beliefs and an active member of the Swedenborgian church.
On November 4, 1847, Mr. Gould married Miss Ruth Hill, daughter of Thomas Hill, of this town. Mr. Hill and his father owned the Contoocook water-power for many years. He was a veteran of the Revolution, serving in all the important battles, including that of Bunker Hill; and he afterward received a pension from the government. Mrs. Gould and Mrs. Samantha Spalding, daughter of Stephen Putney, were, in 1896, living daughters of Revolutionary soldiers in Hopkinton. Mr. and Mrs. Gould became the parents of seven children-Moses C., Louis A., Charles Henry, Clara I., Robert T., Helen A., and Herbert J. Moses C. is a dentist at Seneca Falls, N.Y.; Louis A., born April 26, 1852, attended the university at Syracuse, N. Y., for two years, afterward receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1880. He began the practice of his profession at Ovid, N.Y., and in 1889 settled in Farmer Village, the same State, where he is in practice at the present time. He was for many years President of the Seneca County Medical Society, and for nine years was Coroner of that county. Charles Henry, a stone-cutter of Cambridge, Mass., built the armory in Boston. Clara I. is the wife of Otto L. Bullard, of Bellingham, Mass. Robert T. is living on the homestead. Helen A. is the wife of George A. Newton, of Henniker, N.H.; and Herbert J. resides with his brother, Charles H., in Cambridge, Mass.
Robert T. Gould, born May 23, 1863, has continued in business with his father, and has now the entire charge of the farm. He is very energetic and progressive, the present extensive butter business conducted on the farm being the result of his enterprise. He was educated in the Contoocook Academy, after which, making up his mind to devote his time to agricultural pursuits, he settled near his father, building a neat residence on the farm in 1894. On April 3, 1895, he married Miss Mary M., daughter of John F. and Nellie (Putney) Currier, of Hopkinton. She is a lady of culture and a graduate of the Concord High School. Both Robert and his wife are members of the local grange, in which he has been Master. Very active in the grange work of the county and State, he has attended the National Grange, and, with his father, has been present at the meeting of the State Grange.
